Camaraderie

Heroes Remember

Camaraderie

I really can't put my finger on the actual reason, reasons why I kept going but for the fact that I was leading a group of men and each one of those people were like my brother. That's how I felt about them. Mind you, they changed, they kept changing, but as one comes into the group, he's introduced and it was in just a matter of a short period of time, he joins, he merges with us. In everything in thought, actions. We used to get together, like for smokers, what they called smokers, after a big action to ease the pain, to ease the memories of what the people had gone through. They'd have a smoke or they'd issue a bunch of beer or whatever and we'd all sit there and guzzle the stuff down and we'd get roaring drunk and then we'd fight, I mean in a war zone and we'd fight. Yeah, oh yeah, get it out of our systems. The next day, we're like one big happy family again. Something about George I didn't know, I learnt last night. Now I know George. So he's a bosom pal of mine now, see. Or Alec, or Peter or whoever. But these, this is how people got together. They melded and without that melding, you haven't got anything, you haven't got that strength that you should have and I think maybe it's the, the sense of achievement was probably one of the driving factors, in my case anyway.

Mr. Parker talks about how he felt they were able to keep going, and the kinds of things they did after a battle to try and let loose some of the pent-up tension.

Richard Allen Parker

Richard Allen Parker was born in Vernon, BC on May 27, 1917 to a First Nations family. He talks about his early years, the prejudice that he faced, and the meaning of being First Nations. He left home at an early age to work in the mines. He talks about joining the PPCLI in 1942, fighting the SS and Hitler Youth and his time in Algiers and Italy.